Smile payload module’s first taste of flight

On 21 January 2025, engineers at ESA’s technical heart (ESTEC) connected the two main parts of the Smile spacecraft, putting it into its final flight configuration.

In this image we see the payload module, which hosts three of the spacecraft’s four science instruments. The payload module is the responsibility of ESA, and was built by Airbus on behalf of ESA.

An Airbus engineer looks on as his colleague attaches ropes to the payload module. The ropes are part of a hoisting system that carefully lift the module up into the air, move it across the room, and place it on top of the second main part of the spacecraft, the platform.

When the payload module is finally ready to lift, it rises very slowly, at about a centimetre per second. After all, this is delicate equipment that has taken years of work and is worth millions of euros!

Find out more about the testing and integration of Smile at ESTEC

Smile (the Solar wind Magnetosphere Ionosphere Link Explorer) is a 50–50 collaboration between the European Space Agency (ESA) and the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).

[Image description: A man in protective clothing in a cleanroom. He is looking at a spacecraft covered in bronze foil. Four hooks hang from the ceiling; a second engineer seems to be attaching these hooks to the spacecraft.]